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While the majority of the U.S. has been occupied with Hurricane Sandy relief and issues around today's election, Silicon Valley hasn't failed to also get riled up about last night's premiere of Startups: Silicon Valley on BravoTV. If you want the general take on the quality and focus of the show you can read any variety of reviews here, here or here. I'm not here to review the show so much as to dissect its portrayal of women in tech – or not.

I'll hesitantly admit that I have watched enough of the Real Housewives series to know that BravoTV can put on a rather dramatic show of "reality." I watched Startups SV out of curiosity - not only because of all the whining in Silicon Valley over it, but because I work in tech and I actually know one of the characters, and have worked with and interviewed her in the past. I met Sarah Austin many years ago, and was one of the first sponsors of her company, Pop17.

Sarah is someone who I've watched really pave her own way in tech – from her early days of crashing the biggest tech parties in the Valley (with camera and mic in hand), to her lifecasting, to working with her in 2008 to bring tech and fashion together for New York Fashion Week. I've seen Sarah ignore the naysayers and work very had to make her own way from Silicon Valley to NYC and back again. She's one of the hardest working young women I know and I respect her. So that fact (combined with the interviews I've read from the show's Executive Producer, "the" Randi Zuckerberg) really intrigued me to watch this show from the perspective of women in tech.

I had no expectations for this show to be anything more than a Real Housewives-esque entertainment drama. Just as I don't think that the Lizzie Grubman's MTV show or Kelly Cutrone's run on BravoTV were representative of the majority of us in PR, I didn't expect this show to be wholly representative of reality in Silicon Valley. Obviously, I know the people and companies are real. But the conversations and situations are edited for excitement, drama, laughs and more – and doesn't everyone know that? I'm fine with it – it's entertainment.

However, if an executive producer of such a show is going to tout that one of its redeeming qualities is to help young women get excited about being in tech, then I would expect it to live up to that expectation. Unfortunately, this was the real let down about this show.

Specifically, Randi Zuckerberg has been quoted in numerous stories about Startups: SV portraying women in tech in a positive way. "Surely it’s time for a show that glorifies women and technology and entrepreneurship," she told Vanity Fair. She told Forbes last month that she helped Bravo "capture the authentic Silicon Valley," and that it's a larger vision of "Valleywood," - that tech is a part of pop culture now. (True.) But she also said – as part of her response to those in Silicon Valley who reportedly feel "exposed, attacked or misrepresented” – that, "It's more important than ever to get girls exposed to and excited about entrepreneurship and technology," and that the only way to do that is "by really making tech cool and showing women working at startups and making it a little glamorous."

Cool? I've never gone to a toga party with colleagues but then again, I don't live in the Valley. I would never sleep under anyone's desk, including my own. And I find it more than difficult to believe that this show is about getting young girls excited about working in tech.

Come on. Let's be real. This is a step back for women in tech if we're trying to say that working in the industry means toga parties, spray tans and living at The Four Seasons. It's about as accurate as cast mate Dwight's comment that "Silicon Valley is the only place where you can show up without a dollar in your pocket and build your dream." (But not atypical of someone in Silicon Valley to say about Silicon Valley.)

I completely respect the cast and their individual reasons for joining the show. I tend to think that their reasons lean more toward 15 minutes of fame and/or a career in entertainment – not tech. But Hermione Way told the Mercury News that being on the show is "a chance to put your startup in front of millions of eyeballs. What entrepreneur wouldn't want that kind of exposure?"

Likewise, Sarah was quoted in the same story that she is "looking big picture," and she told me today of some additional career opportunities that have already come her way as a result of the show. "This is a big deal for me and already I've leveraged it to tour in the U.S. to high schools - teaching tech and social media to kids.”

I asked some other women in tech what they thought of the show – and Zuckerberg's comments about it helping to glamorize not only Silicon Valley, but tech for women:

Heather Meeker, VP of Corporate Communications at TextPlus said, "Many people turned down the show as they had no control over creative license - and you'll see this especially with Sarah, as they are making her out to be a villain. She's not." And, that although Meeker personally knows and “loves” Hermione, Ben and Sarah, the show is "…unwatchable. Just not compelling in any way. I blame that on Bravo and not the characters themselves - as they should have done a better job with character development & scripting."

Allie Siarto, Co-founder of Loudpixel in East Lansing, Michigan, told me that she watched the show with her husband (and co-founder). "It didn't take long to realize that the show is less about entrepreneurship and more about human drama. Naturally, hours in front of a computer or doing the 'real' work wouldn't entertain a television crowd in the same way that a drunk catty argument or hungover nap under the venture capitalist's desk might. I'm sure a few of the show's characters are trying to build their personal brands and get their companies out there, but anyone who actually cares about protecting a personal brand is going to stay far away from a show like this. For example, I certainly wouldn't talk badly about a venture capitalist on television if I were hoping to build relationships for the future of my company. It makes entrepreneurs look like immature, irresponsible partiers."

And that's exactly why no one – not even Zuckerberg - should ever talk about this show as helping young women get interested in tech. Like most Bravo shows, it's more likely to get them interested in partying, sex and 15 minutes of fame. I'm fine with that - but let's not call it more than the entertaining drama that it is.